You may remember that I made a vow at the beginning of 2008 to knit only from my stash of yarn for the rest of the year. You may also recall my little slip with the Dream in Color Smooshy. Since most of it was for my daughter I was able to justify it to a degree.

I have also acquired (not without guilt) some skeins of Kureyon for my Lizard Ridge blanket, but my friend Debbie assures me that they don’t count as cheating because I need them for an ongoing project. I love Debbie.

Overall, though, I have been doing well with my stash reduction plan. So how do I explain this??

I think the altitude got to me and muddled my brain.

You see, I was in Kelowna, BC, a few weeks ago, and while I know that it is technically in a valley, you have to understand that this prairie girl-turned-Maritimer gets a little bit excited when she sees something like this:

Look closer:
Yup. Those are mountains, peaking THROUGH the clouds. Gotta love that.

The next thing I know, I’m enjoying the view from my balcony in Kelowna, and thinking, “Wow, I feel close to the sky here!”

Of course it wasn’t long before I had that thought familiar to all travelling knitters worth their salt: “Gee, I bet a place like this would have a great yarn store.”

The Yellow Pages revealed that Art of Yarn was just far enough away from my hotel to be a good exercise walk. Not exactly true. It was way too far, but I am nothing if not determined when I am about to give in to temptation.

The store was absolutely lovely, as was the lady working there. I ended up buying two skeins of mercerized cotton to make a bag, two balls of Kureyon for Lizard Ridge, two balls of Kidsilk Haze in a perfect shade to match several family members’ eyes, and three of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

As my card-playing buddies from university days used to say, “Come big or stay home.”

I had to set about using the yarn immediately in order to ensure that it wouldn’t technically enter the stash. Thus, this baby hat for the newest member of my husband’s family, his beautiful great-nephew, Brayden.

Herein will reside my best efforts to share the wonders of my regular and knitting worlds with family and friends. While there are some (you know who you are) who think the knitting thing is negligible–this despite its decades-long presence in my life– I consider it my mission to gain your respect for the not-so-humble needles and yarn. I figure that I’ll cleverly entwine enough family news into the knitting theme that you’ll convert to my way of thinking without even noticing. Heh.

Evil, perhaps, but for the greater good.

To that end, here is a gratuitous shot of my precocious (and perpetually astonished) nephew Elliott wearing the cardigan I made for him last year. Despite the overwhelming cute factor of this sweater, I cursed every moment that I had to handle the yarn (King Cole’s Sprinkles), as it caught on every rough patch of skin or fingernail and made me long for my usual natural fibres. But I love Elliott so much that I’m making a blanket for him out of the remaining yarn. Will need a stiff glass of Bailey’s on hand to make it bearable, I’m afraid.